FSFE is concerned about efforts currently in progress at the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), to encourage the integration of Digital
Restriction Management (DRM) technology into web browsers. The
W3C oversees many of the key standards on which the World Wide Web
is based.

A W3C working group is currently standardising an "Encrypted Media
Extension" (EME), which will allow companies to easily plug in
non-free "Content Decryption Modules" (CDM) with DRM
functionality, taking away users' control over their own
computers. Most DRM technologies impose restrictions on users that
go far beyond what copyright and consumers' rights allow.

"Integrating DRM facilities into HTML5 is the
antithesis of everything that has made the Internet and the
World Wide Web successful," says FSFE's President Karsten
Gerloff. "It is directly contrary to the interests of the vast
majority of Internet users everywhere."

Auditing the DRM modules will be both difficult and
illegal. Their source code will be a closely held secret of the company
which distributes the module. Performing an audit and reporting security
flaws would also be illegal in the many countries which have
adopted so-called "anti-circumvention" laws. Reporting a security
problem in the DRM module would expose the reporter to the risk of
lawsuits from the makers of that module.

FSFE asks the European Commission to:

Engage with the W3C and ensure that the organisation takes
these concerns on board as it decides on the adoption of the Encrypted
Media Extension (EME).

Pledge not to make use of the Encrypted Media Extension in
its own infrastructure, even if EME were to be standardised by
W3C.

Protect people and companies from prosecution who
reverse-engineer DRM technology and report vulnerabilities.